Oklahoma man convicted of murder in woman's 1979 shooting death executed by lethal injection

McALESTER, Okla. – An Oklahoma death row inmate convicted of first-degree murder in the 1979 shooting death of a 25-year-old Korean national has been executed.

Sixty-one-year-old Anthony Rozelle Banks was pronounced dead Tuesday after he received a lethal injection of drugs at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Banks is the fourth Oklahoma death row inmate to be executed this year.

Banks was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death by a Tulsa County jury for the June 6, 1979, killing of Sun "Kim" Travis. Banks was already serving a life prison sentence for his conviction in the April 11, 1978, slaying of a Tulsa convenience store clerk during an armed robbery when he was linked to Travis' death by DNA evidence 18 years after her death.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

An Oklahoma death row inmate scheduled to be executed Tuesday had a final meal of three apple-filled bear claw pastries and two 16-ounce bottles of water, according to a spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

Anthony Rozelle Banks, 61, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester for the June 6, 1979, killing of Sun "Kim" Travis, 25. Travis was abducted from a Tulsa apartment complex parking lot, raped and shot in the head. Her body was found in a roadside ditch.

A corrections department spokesman, Jerry Massie, said Banks was served his final meal at noon.

Banks and a co-defendant, Allen Wayne Nelson, 54, were charged in the victim's death in August 1997, when their DNA was detected in evidence found on Travis' body and clothing. A 12-member jury convicted Nelson of first-degree murder and sentenced him to life in prison.

Banks was already in prison when he was linked to Travis' death after his conviction for the 1978 slaying of David Fremin, who was shot and killed during an armed robbery. He was serving a life prison sentence in that case.

Massie said Banks has asked that his daughter and a spiritual adviser, as well as his attorney and defense investigators, be present to witness his execution, scheduled for 6 p.m. Massie said no one from the victim's family is expected to attend.